Collabora Online

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Collabora Online

A curated collection of the 4 best self hosted alternatives to Collabora Online.

LibreOffice-based cloud office suite providing real-time collaborative editing of documents, spreadsheets and presentations in the browser. Offered as a hosted SaaS and integrable service for platforms like Nextcloud/ownCloud, with co-authoring and format compatibility.

Alternatives List

#1
Etherpad

Etherpad

Etherpad is a web-based real-time collaborative editor with chat, rich-text formatting, and a plugin framework for customization and integrations.

Etherpad screenshot

Etherpad is a web-based editor that lets multiple people write and edit the same document at the same time. It focuses on fast real-time collaboration and can be extended to fit many workflows via a large plugin ecosystem.

Key Features

  • Real-time collaborative editing with live cursor/author colors
  • Built-in chat alongside the editor for in-context discussion
  • Rich-text editing capabilities (formatting and structured content)
  • Extensible plugin framework to add features and integrations
  • HTTP API for managing pads, users, and groups; includes OpenAPI definition
  • Data export options and embeddable usage for integration into other apps
  • Multi-language interface support

Use Cases

  • Team meeting notes and collaborative drafting sessions
  • Classroom or workshop live note-taking and shared exercises
  • Embedding collaborative editors into existing web applications via API

Limitations and Considerations

  • Advanced functionality (authentication methods, additional editor features, conferencing) often requires installing and maintaining plugins
  • For production deployments, a dedicated database is recommended instead of the default development-oriented storage

Etherpad is a mature choice for organizations that need lightweight, browser-based collaboration with real-time editing. Its API and plugin system make it suitable both as a standalone editor and as a component embedded into larger platforms.

18.1kstars
3kforks
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#2
ONLYOFFICE Docs

ONLYOFFICE Docs

Self-hostable online office suite for viewing and collaboratively editing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs, and forms with strong OOXML compatibility.

ONLYOFFICE Docs is a self-hostable collaborative online office suite that provides web-based viewers and editors for text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and PDFs. It is designed to be integrated into other platforms and supports real-time co-authoring with high compatibility for Office Open XML formats.

Key Features

  • Web-based editors for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDF, and forms
  • Real-time collaborative editing with comments and change tracking
  • Document conversion service for common office formats
  • Plugin and macro support for extending editor capabilities
  • Integration options for third-party sync-and-share/DMS platforms via APIs
  • Multi-language interface and localization support

Use Cases

  • Add in-browser document editing to a file sync/share or DMS platform
  • Team collaboration on office documents with review workflows
  • Embed document viewers/editors into custom web applications

Limitations and Considerations

  • Community Edition licensing is AGPLv3; some advanced capabilities are reserved for commercial editions
  • Some security features (such as end-to-end encryption “Private Rooms”) depend on other ONLYOFFICE components rather than Docs alone

ONLYOFFICE Docs fits organizations that need browser-based office editing on their own infrastructure, especially when OOXML compatibility and integrations are key. It can be deployed as a standalone document server or embedded into other products to provide collaborative editing.

6.1kstars
1.2kforks
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#3
Nextcloud Office

Nextcloud Office

Self-hosted collaborative office suite for Nextcloud providing real-time editing, high-fidelity rendering and support for DOCX, XLSX, PPTX and ODF formats.

Nextcloud Office screenshot

Nextcloud Office integrates Collabora Online into Nextcloud to provide real-time, high-fidelity editing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings inside the Nextcloud ecosystem. It preserves layout and formatting across many file formats and enables collaborative workflows including comments, suggestions and anonymous public-link editing.

Key Features

  • Real-time multi-user collaborative editing with per-author highlighting and comments
  • High-fidelity server-side rendering that preserves document layout and formatting
  • Broad file format support (DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, ODF and many import/view formats)
  • Integration with Nextcloud apps (Files, Talk, Tasks, Whiteboard, Text, Tables, Collectives) for seamless workflows
  • Anonymous editing via public shared links and granular share controls
  • AI-powered document generation and diagram generation features (configurable)
  • Federated editing support across Nextcloud instances with version and configuration requirements

Use Cases

  • Teams collaborating on documents, spreadsheets and presentations without relying on third-party cloud services
  • Educational deployments where compatibility with varied Office formats and centralized control are required
  • Organizations needing on-premise office editing with integration into existing Nextcloud workflows and access controls

Limitations and Considerations

  • Requires a separate Collabora Online / COOLWSD service to run alongside Nextcloud; the app itself is only the Nextcloud integration
  • Collabora Online can be resource intensive and typically needs dedicated CPU/RAM for good performance at scale
  • Some enterprise-grade stability, scalability and support features are provided only via commercial Collabora/Nextcloud offerings
  • Federated collaborative editing requires compatible versions and specific configuration (trusted servers and embedding/CSP settings)

Nextcloud Office is suitable for organizations that require on-premise collaborative document editing tightly integrated with their Nextcloud instance. It provides a feature-rich, extensible editor experience while keeping data under server control.

420stars
140forks
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#4
Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE)

Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE)

Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE) provides a self-hosted LibreOffice-based online editor for documents, spreadsheets and presentations for testing or small teams.

Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE) screenshot

Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE) is the development version of Collabora Online, a server that enables viewing and editing office documents in a web browser using the LibreOffice/Collabora Office core. It is intended for testing, home use, and small teams, and is typically updated on a frequent release cadence.

Key Features

  • Browser-based editing and viewing for common office document formats
  • Multi-user collaborative editing with real-time updates
  • Server component (coolwsd) designed to be integrated behind a reverse proxy
  • Native Linux packages available for Debian/Ubuntu (deb) and RPM-based distributions
  • Central configuration via coolwsd.xml and service management via systemd

Use Cases

  • Adding online document editing to an existing collaboration platform
  • Evaluating Collabora Online features and compatibility before production deployment
  • Home or small-team shared editing of office documents in a private environment

Limitations and Considerations

  • Not recommended for production environments compared to Collabora Online supported editions
  • Typically expects TLS certificates by default; many deployments use reverse-proxy TLS termination instead

CODE is a practical way to run and test the Collabora Online stack on your own infrastructure while retaining the core collaborative editing capabilities. For production-grade deployments, consider the supported enterprise offerings and operational guidance.

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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running